How To Refinish Doors And Drawers

Remodeling a kitchen is never a bad decision. The kitchen seems to go through a lot more wear and tear than other rooms in the home. Considering this is where the food is, it makes sense, especially if you have children or teenagers. One of the first things to need repair in the kitchen is the cabinets, specifically the doors and drawers. These are the most handled elements of a kitchen and they often show the signs of their wear. This article will teach you how to remove your doors and drawers to refinish them. This simple kitchen upgrade will restore your kitchen cabinets and add some new life to the room.

Remove the Doors and Drawers

First, you want to remove all the doors and drawers from the cabinets before you do any work on them. It is best if you set up a simple workstation outside or in the garage. Mask off a table that you can sand and stain on. Try to line up all the doors and drawers in a row so you can streamline the work. Also, remove all the hardware and hinges from them. It is probably a good idea to install new hinges and hardware on your doors after you have refinished them. The new stain, along with new hardware, will make your cabinets look completely different. Furthermore, new hinges are very convenient. Consider investing in self-closing hinges because they are durable and don't make any sound when they are slammed.

Sanding

Refinishing your doors and drawers will go much quicker if you have a vibrating power sander. You will also need a sponge sander that allows you to get in between the decorative molding. Make sure you have two types of sandpaper. First, you want a medium grit sandpaper to sand off of the existing stain. Then, you will use a fine grit sandpaper to sand down the wood and make it paintable. If you are painting your cabinets a solid color, you don't need to remove all of the existing paint or stain. However, if you are applying a clear coat (which is most common), you want to try and expose the raw wood.

Staining

Applying the clear stain is easier than painting a solid color with normal paint. Stain is much more watery than paint, but it can be easily applied with rags or sponges instead of paintbrushes. When it comes to restaining doors and drawers, especially considering their decorative molding, using rags is much easier. If you are painting your doors a solid color, using a paintbrush will likely leave behind brush strokes. Most professionals will tell you that you need to use a pneumatic paint gun to get a suitable finish. However, if you are on a budget, hand painting will get the job done just fine and the brushstrokes aren't even that noticeable.

Finally, all you have to do is reattach the doors, drawers, and new (or old) hardware and you can enjoy the fresh new look of your kitchen cabinets.

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22 March 2016

About Me

When making home renovations, what improvements will give you the best return on investment? If you are looking to increase the value of your home, there are some projects that should be given a greater priority than others. I have created this blog to help homeowners that are trying to decide where to begin with renovations find the best place to start. I will show you what will come with the best return on investment and what will not do anything to improve the value of your home. Hopefully, my years of experience flipping homes will help you make the best possible choices.